So what is civilization? What is this ordered society that prior generations, thousands of them, has left us as our heritage? I believe it is the rule of law, a social order that provides freedom from violence, clean water and food, and stability which allows us to raise our families free from want, free to worship as we choose, free to raise our children with a reasonable expectation that we, and they, wont be the last of our species. When I was in college, lo those many years ago, Dr Williams, the head of the political science department at WVU, said that conservatives value the past and wish to make changes that preserve the best of it and try to improve upon it. Liberals, he said, want to make radical changes because they have little respect for the generations that have gone before and believe they can do a whale of a lot better. I dont know that I buy all that, which sounds a bit simplistic, but its something to think about in this unstable world with so many hungry people, so many religious and racial fanatics who are willing to destroy everything and live in the rubble, and so many self-appointed messiahs who think they are so much smarter than everyone else. Here are three photos that I think illustrate civilization for me: The cathedral at Rheims, where French kings were crowned for many centuries; the top of Pikes Peak with maintained roads and a cog railway to get you there, facilities for tourists, commodes that flush, clean water to drink, all so we and our grandchildren and their grandchildren can enjoy an awesome view; and a soldiers cemetery in Belgium, where WWII German soldiers, who fought in vain, were interred by the victors, to rest in peace as long as the world shall last.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 13:02:57 +0000
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